Five Ways To Get a Free Credit Score (No Trials!)

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Updated 2017. As noted, the government requires the credit bureaus to provide you a free credit report once every 12 months from AnnualCreditReport.com. Ideally, you should check in more frequently. The services listed below provide you a free credit score updated throughout the year either daily, weekly, or monthly. Most offer additional data taken directly from your credit reports, while some even offer free daily credit monitoring or free identity protection services.

As of September 2018, all three major credit bureaus are covered: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. You do not need to already have a specific credit card. Being ad-supported, they can do so without the hassle of annoying trial membership offers, requiring credit card numbers, or having to remember to cancel anything.

CreditSesame.com offers a free credit score every month, based on your TransUnion credit report (VantageScore). They used Experian data in the past, but it appears that most members have been migrated over to Transunion. Score range is 300-850. They only require the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. No trial or credit card required.

Free daily credit monitoring. Credit Sesame also offers free daily credit monitoring of your TransUnion data, with alerts coming via e-mail, text, or smartphone app. This service tracks more than 40 different credit activities such as a balance change, address change or when a new account is opened.

Free identity protection and restoration services. Credit Sesame also includes $50,000 in identity theft insurance and access to identity restoration support in their free membership level.

CreditKarma.com offers you two free credit scores, based on your TransUnion and Equifax credit reports and updated weekly (VantageScore). Score range is 300-850. They only require the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. No trial or credit card required. The two-in-one feature is nice.

WalletHub.com offers a free credit score based on your TransUnion credit report (VantageScore), updated daily. They also provide access to your full TransUnion credit report daily (although it may not be updated that often). Score range is 300-850. They only require the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. No trial or credit card required.

Your Existing Credit Card

I wouldn’t sign up for a new credit card just for a credit score, but if you already have one, check to see if it offers a free monthly credit score as a perk:

Some may point out that many of the scores above are not FICO scores. No, they are not FICO scores because Fair Isaac charges more money for them and these companies can’t cover those costs with their advertising. However, these free credit scores can still be very useful for tracking changes and general trends in your credit history. Free credit monitoring is also a great way to track any big changes including fraudulent activity. There is value in getting an e-mail notification whenever a new account is added to my report.

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Comments

I have the WaMu credit card. My FICO results have huge gaps, like months on end without a score. When I emailed customer service, they emailed me back the generic disclaimer that you don’t always have a FICO score, and it isn’t always available, which makes no sense

Even when it is available, it isn’t your full credit report. The only number that I can see is the amount of revolving debt I have, and I don’t even have that sometimes. It’s just a floating, magical FICO number.

It’s important to note these are all for Fako scores, not Fico. Fico scores are the same scores a potential lender sees. Fako scores are that company’s own formula. I’ve had as much as an 88 point difference between the two which tell me Fako scores are meaningless.

I am responding to your comment six years after you posted but it is still true in 2014. These scores from these free places other the TransUnion based ones are bogus. I too have had huge differences between Fako and actual Fico.

I will agree that WAMU’s score does not accurately reflect my true FICO. It is consistently 40 to 80 points higher. My understanding is their weighting is reflective of credit card worthiness (which makes sense as that is where they do business). It’s still a useful tool as you can track ups and downs, just don’t take it is gospel.

While not hassle free, you can signup for the free trial at http://www.myfico.com and get a free report from one of the big three (I think it was Experian for me the last time around). You can then cancel w/o a fee. Fat Wallet references that you can sign up for a free trial again after a few months, but I haven’t had the need.

Having gone through a refinance last October as well as being currently involved in another large loan process, I’ve had recent copies from all three reporting agencies that have allowed for comparison to the other “FAKO” scores available to me. As a rule I just lop 50 points off the numbers presented. WAMU’s score as of right now is 48 points higher than my mid-score for January.

Someone sent me an email pitching brightscore.com, I checked it out, and it was a surprisingly a valuable resource.. It shows a credit score (not sure how accurate, but it was +/- 10 points of my equifax score watch), but the kicker is it shows you all your positive and all your negative factors, and the weight they used to get them.. Plus it gives you short and long term tips on how to improve each one.

I agree with Barbara that for me, TU scores are consistently highest. I’m can’t say with any certainty whether my EX or EQ scores are consistently higher. I have also seen that largest number of hard credit pulls in the past two years (only my own experience) have been to TU, followed by EX and EQ. American Express and Chase Bank pulled EX and Discover pulled EQ (all credit applications originated in Michigan). All other hard pulls went to TU.

I just ran the first three options in this article and had a 100 point difference between the scores. Trans Union was highest, then Experian, then Equifax. Credit Sesame seemed the most useful in terms of information specifically about my accounts. One thing they all did was estimate the equity in my home based on a “Current estimated value”. That number varied by nearly $175,000 and all were lower than a recent real estate broker (not bank loan) appraisal. Overall, though, the information was as useful or more useful than the stuff you get when you pay for credit reports. Many thanks to the authors for providing this information.

Wamu actually says the score they give is a FICO score (with the trademark symbol and all). What’s strange though is that I’ve been trying to figure out how to get a free FICO or FAKO score and then you put up the tips…thanks. I just applied for the Wamu credit card and got the approval instantly.

There are, literally, hundreds of FICO scores. Some bend the score more to credit cards, other towards car loans and still others are toward mortgages. Which the loan company uses is up to that particular loan company. Some companies are now using Vantage, which also has several models. The best you can do is stay current, always checking your credit and knowing what you have, adjust the best you can and constantly monitor your big three areas (Balance, on time and usage). It’s a very important balancing act that is required to be successful in life these days.

I’m pretty sure you can’t use the “FICO” name unless you are pulling a true FICO score, unless you want a team of lawyers knocking on your door.

The problem is that there are even multiple flavors of FICO scores, even on the same credit report data. One might be more focused on mortgage-related defaults, while the other might be focused on auto-loan default rates.

Actually, I think I just answered my own question: yes, but you don’t have to complete the request to actually get the score. (I came out with an A3, a marked improvement on my score from last year, which was 680. The price for being a “ghost” in the system…)

Thanks for the information. I just wanted to add that the Clear from American Express credit card offers cardholders a free credit report with your credit score once every year, and there’s no annual fee for the card, so that’s another option. Thanks again.

Don’t bother with American Express credit report offer. I tried cancelling the day or two before the the trial period expired but I couldn’t get through their phone system so the company that handles this charged me anyway after I explained the situation. I wouldn’t trust them. Unfortunately, AMEX couldn’t do anything for me–ridiculous.

I had come across sites like Privacyguard.com. They are not free, but I had once taken their trial and liked it. They provide one a month update from ALL three credit bureaus with details of transactions that may be mismatching among the three.
Has anyone used them? Are there any OTHER sites like them? All help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks…

FICO tailors scores according to the type of business … a real estate lender may get XXX from FICO, a car dealer will see YYY, a credit card app will see ZZZ, etc. WAMU FICO is off the ZZZ variety – it won’t be the same score the car dealer sees. The ZZZ is the only one consumers can get, as far as I know. I would not make a deal on a house or car, if the lender refused to share the score s/he sees.

If you want the score because you’re in the market to buy a home, visit HUD’s website and click the link for housing counselors. While the quality of the counseling will vary, many of these agencies have access to some great systems. The agency that I run uses a Freddie Mac system that allows us to pull Transunion and Experian at no cost, with scores, and it’s a soft pull, so there’s no impact on the credit score. It also provides us with a report on steps that will improve your ability to qualify for a mortgage and even let’s us know if you are ready to go apply with a lender. We run it for everyone who comes into our office wanting to buy a home. We have access to another system that allows us to pull all three as a soft pull with scores. That system may come with a charge depending on what we are using it for (foreclosure prevention clients get it free).

I when to the site, registered, saw that they identified me based on info they had in their questionnaire (like phone number, zipcode, prior address), they asked me for MORE info on myself as well to add to their database.

Finally, after competing all questions, the page produced a request to print the form and SEND in by SNAIL MAIL a copy of my ID and utility bill for them to send me a printed copy. What?????? I only wanted an online version.

Looks like they have a gap somewhere in their data and want me to send in a copy of my picture ID/drivers license ……?….?

So… even if you confirm everything…. you may not get what you were looking for.

I know this post is old, but in case anyone stumbles on it, I want to definitely recommend CreditKarma. Their first version turned a lot of people on this blog off (myself included) but it now seems to be very reliable and from what I’ve read elsewhere is, or will soon be, based on the scores from all three companies.

This is a huge help for those of us who do not know where to start when it comes to improving our credit score. I want to purchase a home on the distant horizon, so I was thinking I should start doing stuff now to boost my score.

Anyone know what the dif. is between experian, trans, and equifax credit scores and a FICO score?

getting rid of that feature. i’ve had this card forever, originally it was through providian bank, which got bought out by wamu, and now has been absorbed into the giant chase, who treats its customers like trash.

Chase just lost me and my wife as customers. We’ve had Providian/WaMu cards for 6+ years because of their free credit score. We also had Chase Platinum cards because of the free double MFG warranty benefit. I’m canceling those out of principle as well. They can afford to make stupid business decisions because they know that the government will mortgage my future income to bail them out if they need it. Someone deserves a multi-million dollar bonus!

BTW, if anyone knows of another credit card that offers a free credit score, please reply.

I can’t believe it CHASE take away the free credit score. My wife & I, both have WaMu with free monthly credit score. Now, Chase sucks so bad that they take that feature away. I thought at least they have to give WaMu CC holders a year free credit score or so…. We just keep the card, but won’t use it. Chase sux.

I agree Chase is taking over the Wamu card. Part of the reason Wamu Card is the best because they offer a montly update on your credit score. Chase is a well known company and I can’t believe they can’t even afford to offer this or continue the service free credit score to their customer as they make a lot of money. Talk about Customer Service. I might have to result on closing my Wamu which will be Chase after March 4. Very disappointed.

i am so dissappointed i will be losing the monthly benifit of knowing what my fico was with wamu. I was so lucky to know if something happened to my credit score! CHASE should be offering us what we had before/now becuase WE DIDNT SCREW UP AND CAUSE THEM TO BUY WAMU!

possibly if we complain enough we will be able to make some waves with chase

I’m so glad that I just refinance my house and took out a bit extra to pay off WaMu!!!! I’ve also been looking for another card that offers the free FICO Score updates. I haven’t found one yet. I wish WaMu would have asked their customers before selling to Chase.

Since we’re on the subject of Credit Cards, watch for letters in the mail regarding your other cards. I have had 3 Credit Card Companies jump up interest rates in the last 2 months. One company (Capital One) even jumped my interest rate up by 4% even though I haven’t been late on payments!

Also… If you are trying to raise your credit score… don’t close your account! Your credit score is greatly affected by the length of time you’ve had credit. So, just having the account open helps to raise your score even if you don’t use it! (Suze Orman said this on one of her shows and she is correct!)

Thanks for mentioning the interest rate increases Jean D. Also, credit card companies are reducing the credit lines on accounts will also adversely impact FICO scores. On cards where I’ve had thousands of dollars of credit, now that they’ve been reduced down to their balances it gives the appearance that I’m maxed out my credit on these cards. I had been working hard to pay on these accounts which was slowly improving my FICO score so I could buy a home. Now I don’t know if it will ever happen.

cancelling that card lowers your FICO score because it decreases not only your over all available credit, but also the credit history associated with that card…..nice work arie……just leave the no annual fee cards open and use them once or twice a year for small amounts is the best thing to do

I think we should start an “I Hate Chase” website. A couple weeks ago I called them since I never received a new credit card when they switched over from Washington Mutual. Unbeknownst to me, I was told my account was closed! What the ??? I have a $3K balance and had available credit of $13K. I have not charged on this card for at least seven years as the balance was much higher and I have been consistently paying at least the minimum due, sometimes more, on time, every month for the past 7 – 10 years. I can’t even remember the last time I used my card. The reason – the same as the other credit card companies. “A recent review was done and due to your credit history…blah, blah, blah”. I told him my credit history was right in front of him which showed I’ve consistently paid on my account since the beginning of time and haven’t even used my card for several years. I asked when I was going to be notified and was told a letter would be sent in the next 5 days which was more like 15. I think it’s criminal for them to just close out an account or lower credit limits to your account balance amount so by appearances you looked like you’re maxed out. Now my FICO, that I had been working hard to improve, looks worse than it ever has. I don’t only hate Chase, I hate Citibank and B of A as well! Thank you for allowing me to release all that frustration. 🙂

I don’t hate Chase. They just approved me for their Freedom card with a $11000 CL which will help my utilization. Especially combined with Amex, after day 61 of having my new Amex card I can call for a 3xs CLI!

Jeanette,
I feel your pain…I too just had my card cancelled without my knowledge. Called to “activate” the new card they sent me, and found out my account was CLOSED!! But it was BofA!! I had a $20,000 limit. Rarely used the card. I did however use it to transfer balances getting a “deal” rate for 6+ months to get principal down. Now with the caps removed on almost all cards and the % for transferring money up…its really not worth it. It costs you in the long run now. The reason – the same as the other credit card companies. “A recent review was done and due to your credit history…blah, blah, blah”. So, basically they didnt want my business….too bad for them….

Ok… I logged in to CK a few months ago for the first time but would like to get rid of my profile. -Is there a way I can take myself off the CK record? -I’d appreciate your help.
–CK founder, maybe you can answer that?!

the whole problem with this country is that NOTHING is done the smae accross the board. there should not be 3 credit reporting agencies, there should only be one, and these ppl should be accountable for the information the publish, perhaps then things would be much better for the avg person who does not have much money or credit, yet pays on time, all the time. it’s all about money, the more you have the more credit you will be given, the higher your score. BIG FLIPPIN DEAL about the score. it is nothing but someones so called formula to determine your worthiness, they dont know you. infact, if they give you a lower score, and then you get denied credit, guess what, your score just got lowered again, every time you apply for credit, your score gets lowered. I will stick with my emergency credit card all else cash.

Its completely nuts just trying to get your credit score and bureau. They play so many “games” with you that they are actually “worse” than the “car dealers” themselves. I would love for someone to simply offer all 3 bureaus and scores…ONE TIME PRICE…get it and go!

Does anyone know how I can simply get my 3 fico scores (not something “like” the fico…but the actual score itself? Then get the bureaus…all for a ONE TIME PRICE…no trials..no games.

I recently (last week) recieved a letter from Chase saying” We have reveiwed your credit report and have decded to cancel your card” I have been with them for years and was holding on to them as my only credit card. I have never been late in paying off this balance. I have a small balance on it approx. 3k with a credit line of 12k. I have not used it in about 3years so I could work on improving my credit score. I guess I will continue to pay with cash and M.O.
Thanks for being here, at least I now know therre are others who have been “Chased Off!”

My recent victimization (this could be my online journal) – I received a letter from a credit card company saying they were again lowering my credit limit (which they had lowered last year by about $4K) due to “a recent review of my credit history, blah, blah, blah”. Which is a bunch of bull and was last year because I never missed a payment and paid more when I could. These days you can’t afford to be late anyway because they charge $29.99 – $39.99 as a late fee! I believe they said they relied on info they received from Experian. A couple months ago I paid off a credit card that I had and another credit card said they were increasing my credit limit because of my credit history! Inconsistency at it’s finest. I can not wait until I am out of debt so I can send out a few insulting letters of my own – just as I’ve been receiving from them. It is beyond frustrating. I don’t even have the energy to speak of the outrageous interest rates. We are really being screwed.

Three comments:
1. WaMu was bought out and taken over by Chase Bank several years ago.
2. I use creditkarma.com, however, this only provides my TransUnion score, which hasn’t been updated (creditkarma.com information that is) since June 2010.
3. Every site I looked at that advertises “free” credit reports and scores is hooked into a trial. I used one of them and after I started my “trial”, I found it very difficult to log back on to the site to request cancellation. Why must I pay for information, which is a matter of public record (practically) that affects my financial future, and how would I know which credit score/report is used by a particular lender/creditor?

Sometimes if you ask them before applying, they’ll they’ll tell you.
There’s a forum(not my Fico)you can put in the CC bank, where you live & it will show you members in your area who applied,what agency was pulled, their score if they were approved, what CL they got,if they were denied & why.
It’s very imformative & kind of fun!

I found out my credit score by applying for a business credit card through American Express, registered as a sole proprietorship, not sure if this works for personal credit cards. Either way they sent me a very nice formatted letter denying the card, but were nice enough to include the credit score among other explanations as to why I could not obtain the card 🙂

Weird how much the numbers vary from site to site. Credit Sesame lists my score as 793 while Quizzle (both from Experian supposedly), lists it at 752. With Credit Karma I’m 770, so I guess it’s somewhere in the upper 700s

Credit Sesame is EQ. Credit.com is the other free EX site.
My bank officer says TU is the fairest. It will usely be the highest, followed by EQ, with EX coming in last.
I only have that 1 explanation about TU but that is generally the way they go. Your EQ(Credit Sesame )score being highest isn’t typical.
Suze Orman says Excellent is currently 760 & up; but I’m pretty sure (if everything else is OK )720 & up is enough for credit cards.
I’ve never been turned down & I don’t think my EX has ever been as high as yours,my Tu-777, you have NOTHING to worry about!
Even with never being turned down I have, too many inquiries, not enough mix & my history needs to be longer.

@Jeff – Freecreditscore dot com offers a 7-day trial after which they auto-bill you for $14.95 a month until you cancel. The whole idea of this post is to avoid limited-time trials and giving out your credit card info.

People with the same credit score can have very different credit profiles : more or fewer accounts, a different mix of accounts, a longer or shorter credit history, use of more or less of their available credit, etc.

Great Website! I was wondering, if I receive my credit reports from annualcreditreport.com, can I still get my actual scores for free on the sites you listed? Or will the second set of inquiries for my scores impact me negatively? In other words, is it free to check your reports and scores separately?

I find this issue infuriating, and deserving of Federal regulatory invention as is often proposed (and shot down by Republicans). Elizabeth Warren had great ideas, but somehow her visibility shifted toward the anomalous mention of her native American heritage, but I digress…

Basically, CreditSesame is supposed to be based upon my Experian credit report, which lately has one disputed delinquency concerning a $25 co-pay, and it literally shot down my score by 100 points. (Seriously.) That enough makes a case for broad reform in this stupid system, but more to the point, CreditSesame says there’s no problem, and that my credit is supreme. CreditSesame bases its data on Experian.

Here’s my question: how do you actually get your real FICO score from Experian? I will pay! And this process is ridiculous. I tried myFICO, and the numbers are still wrong. (The only way I discovered the adverse impact of that $25 delinquency is through a refinancing, that fell apart. My true score had always hovered around 780 before that.)

Interestingly my Credit Karma, Credit Sesame and Quizzle Scores were all well into the excellent range, however my Equifax was only “Above Average”. It mentioned that this was due to a lack of different types of credit (I don’t have an car loans or mortgage) as well as a high ratio of retail store credit vs. credit cards.

Being that I don’t have a single retail store credit card I immediately checked my Equifax report, which did not show any Retail Credit Card. It did show that one of my business Credit Cards on my credit report, however the other business card was not there.

That’s weird. I took out a $3000 loan to help install a “Walk in Tub”(I’m in a wheelchair. All my scores dropped but have gone back up as I’ve contiued to pay on Tim plus some extra. I thought once the amount paid was larger than the amount owed my scores would be higher than when I origanally took it out. My cars were either paid with cash or too long ago, I don’t pay for my homes. I’M hoping this will help my mix(which I forgot to put on my score distribution rundown ).
Please share any helpful expriences;re borrowing money;what your scores did from your borrow to paying it back in total. Thanks!

I want thank you for the information about the free credit scores
I had no problem with credit karama and credit sesame but with equifax they want me to offer me a free trial for $19.95 and then I will get my free credit score from them. They told that no credit score is free just a credit report . I spoke to a man named Kennedy on the site . so please if you know something different I like to know. With them it seems like its all about the money not the service

Prosper Lending also gave me an exact score along with my rejection… perhaps they only give you exact information when your score is low enough not to qualify. That said, I’m only 11 points away from their minimum threshold of 640.

Credit Sesame is an excellent site. Its estimate of my current debt accurate to the cent! It also showed my (alleged) credit score, based on Experian. The site charges $G9.00 for the actual report, though. Thanks for this incredible site!

I have tried most of the websites to check my credit scores. The best TRUE FREE site is CREDITKARMA.COM, you can update your score daily and it shows a ALMOST EXACT credit score as TransUnion. It is free with no credit card required. You can try it to confirm. Although, there are others sites that are free, this website shows the most accurate results. The other sites vary by ALOT (up to 80 points) The only downfall to CreditKarma, is that it does not show all the details (collections or details on accounts). However it does show your open accounts and a near exact score to TRU. This is by far the best free site and information is compiled from TransUnion. TransUnion is the best PAID site by far. I have tried all the other legitimate sites but they are expensive and charge the same as TRU’s 3 Bureau option for THEIR single credit score. Most legit free sites do not reflect the up to date picture of your score. The other top bureaus nickel and dime you for the information. Make sure you select the 3 bureau option with TRU . Make sure you select the 3 bureau option, otherwise you will pay for the single (TRU) report by default. Neither of these sites will bombard you with annoying pop up offers…I love this free site (CreditKarma.com) and TRU is the best paid site. Check them out for yourself.

I just signed into creditkarma.com, simple,clear sign in. I got my TU score and a score called Vantage which came with this description: “The VantageScore, which ranges from 501 to 990, is a credit scoring model created collaboratively by the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This score aims to make credit scoring more consistent and accurate across all the bureaus. In order to make it more understandable for consumers, the VantageScore grades consumers’ creditworthiness on an easy A to F letter scale. Learn more about different credit scores.”
Maybe someone noticed that the three bureau system is cumbersome.
Thanks for this site, very helpful.

OKAY, I HAVE TRIED SCORESENSE WHICH CHARGES AND THEIR INFO IS NOT UP TO DATE AND ALSO CREDIT KARMA WHICH I LIKE AND CREDIT SESAME WHICH GAVE ME AN 80PTS DIFFERENCE WHICH TOOK MY SCORE UP BUT SCORE SENSE I CANCELLED AND IT SEEMS THAT NONE OF THESE ARE THE SAME BUT SCORESENSE, I AM SURPRISED HOW NOT UPDATED THEY ARE. WHAT SITE IS THE CLOSEST TO GETTING YOUR ACCURATE OR ESTIMATED SCORE?

Hi
I have literally read your entire stran. Because I’m very naive when it comes to your credit scores, I am assuming and summarizing from all the above the best website to check is credit karma?
I read some comments that the score on credit karma was a FICO score?
Also read thatbitbcan be off some 80 points?
ps: thanks for your blog it was very helpful!

Credit card companies will usually close your account if it hasn’t been used in years. They’re in the business to make money, so that should be no surprise to anyone. In addition, if you had read your disclosure information thoroughly you would know that they have the right to close your account, lower your limit, and increase your APR as they deem necessary.

For those angry with Chase, you should feel lucky that you were getting a free credit score every month. I know of no other credit card company that does that, and you will be hard-pressed to find one. Frankly, I don’t see why getting your credit score every month would be viewed as such an important feature. Unless you plan on applying for credit every month, receiving your score each month is useless. You don’t need to keep tabs on your score that frequently. Just manage your finances responsibly and check your scores once a year.

Just wondering if the Lending Club thing is still accurate? They’ve removed any mention of it from their website (you can still see the credit grades and how they apply to APR’s, but they no longer have the information that matches the loan grades up with FICO scores).

Perhaps you can help me. I have tried, UNSUCCESSFULLY, to register with both Credit Sesame and Quizzle, only to be told they can”t find my credit file. WTH??? I have had the same address for 40 yeara, same job for the last 3 years, same telephone number for 14 years AND I routinely get my credit reports frrom all 3 (rip off) aagencies. I use Credit Karma almost every day and their articles and information are very helpful. I would like to try the other two, but I am annoyed I keep putting my personal info into websites only to be told they cannot find my information. Any suggestions?

Contact Credit Sesame and Quizzle, and be VERY SPECIFIC as to what your issue is. I might use the words you used above to complain to this group, except I would use Credit Karma and Quizzle ONLY for their particular inquiries. In other words, when contacting Credit Karma, do not mention Quizzle.

As I have never heard of your problem before, I cannot help you beyond this, unfortunately, yet I have been a credit specialist for years. Sorry – but plese be successful!a

I agree with one of the commenters above…monitoring your “credit” on a simulated site is pointless. You get these monthly reports but they are not as accurate as your true FICO scores. The differences between the two are major. So as for a person like me trying to rebuild my credit, these sites were extremely misleading. I thought I was on the right track but I was still far away from my goal.

Calling can’t hurt & who knows. I called a card about a CLI, since every other card I had was giving me one with no HP. They said no, I hadn’t been with them long enough, next thing I knew,they had given me one. Same with one of my Capital 1 cards, which they also switched to a Quicksilver MC!
You’re also right about the cards you’re just keeping open to add to your available credit. Suze O. says, unless you’re paying a fee. I say it depends on how much you need the history &/or credit at the time.

Several free Non-FICO scores named FAKO scores by some people can be got in websites as credit sesame, credit karma, credit.com, quizzle and others, but the lenders use FICO scores only. Those are “educational scores” only. Some types of generic or classic FICO scores can be got by consumers from myfico.com, and some credit cards ( Discover It card, Walmart credit card, credit cards from Barclays Bank and others ) offer a free classic FICO score monthly.

You can get true Equifax FICO score from Capital One bi-monthly. If you have a Capital One credit card and an online account, simply request a credit limit increase and if rejected you’ll get a rejection document with your Equifax credit score. If not, rejoice with the thought that it is safe to assume your Equifax credit score is higher than 2 months ago.

I’m not talking about the Credit Tracker score. I am referring to the score reflected on the document Capital One sends when they refuse the credit limit increase request. AFAIK, by law, they must send the score on which they based the refusal. Also, to correct my first post, I have requested a credit limit increase 3 straight months now, all refused, and everytime they sent a document explaining the refusal with the Equifax score. No hard pull on any of my credit reports.

That is not true. This is what is on their credit line increase FAQ – Q: Will a request for a credit line increase affect my credit score? A: When you request a credit line increase online or in our automated phone system, our review to determine your eligibility will not impact your credit score. To check your eligibility for an increase, we use the information that we normally receive from the credit bureaus each month. This does not generate an additional inquiry.

I have been doing this since Dec 2013, and i have not seen any hard inquiry related to Capital One since. Have you ever tried? If you have a Capital One credit card, try it. But do read their FAQ first before you click the submit button.

Quizzle even says it will not give you a real Equifax FICO score on their website from the link in this article: “Quizzle® is the only place on the web where you can get a free VantageScore® credit score and an Equifax® credit report – every six months. You won’t find this combination anywhere else on the web. Also, when we pull your credit report it’s considered a soft inquiry, which means it will not hurt your score.” Nowhere does it read Equifax Credit SCORE.

After going through CreditSesame – I realized none of these are listing anything labeled “FICO credit score” just a benign listing of “My credit score” or Credit Score’ but that means nothing. As if any of this really matters; an arbitrary score based on a secret method from private companies which is then manipulated by lenders is like saying , trust me, we’re all rich since the world is gold platted – but keep your eyes close and again, just trust me. I have always detested this system.

You can also get your Transunion score from Capital One as well as weekly updates to any changes such as Inquiries, changes to your CC balances, and so on. It seemed to be pretty accurate with what I already knew but still it would be better if it pulled all 3.

Free fico from Barclay card online based on TU, and in 2015 citi (equifax) and BofA and others, will follow suit as well with implementing open access. Obama deemed it important enough for a press conference :).

Outside of cc issuers the only way to get fico (not fako) is through citi identity monitor, it’s $1 for the first month but that always has been and remains churnable.

I just checked my credit scores at all three, Credit Sesame (Experian), Credit Concierge (TransUnion), and Quizzle (Equifax) in about 15 minutes. My scores are 803/781/811. For the first two it was really easy to delete my account on the website; for Quizzle you have to email them to delete your account.

Its OUR credit, and yet we are the ones that know the least about our own FICO SCORE?
We have to pay for it or hope a credit card will tell us ONCE A YEAR?
I know my credit is “squeaky”, but since HOME DEPOT offered NOTHING after their HACK,
I have no idea what it could be now. (getting spammed like crazy)

Good for ANTHEM, but HOME DEPT gets an F- in fixing the problem on their end.
They emailed me to inform me about the “hack,” and then gave me a phone number, with TOO MANY DIGITS, and the actual HOME DEPOT store, just re-routed my call to VOICE MAILS.
Gee thanks HOME DEPOT. You lost OUR business only for FOREVER!

Credit Concierge pulls from TransUnion and offers a proprietary score that is neither FICO nor VantageScore. Given than now Credit Sesame and Credit Karma now pull from TransUnion for new customers, and are both more well established with a longer history, I personally don’t plan on giving my SSN to another website that doesn’t offer anything additional to what I already have.

1. A few years ago I signed up for Quizzle ~±2010 while I was in grad school on the East coast. I always rcvd a free *full* EQ CR at least once a year. Now, after a couple yrs of California residency, I’ve run into an odd error message on the site: when I click the menu bar link to See My Credit Report, a Quizzle popup apologizes that my full credit report is not available to users in [my] state”. State is clearly defined as residential location, actually I think it was more specific in the message– but never actually cites a state name like California nor mentions specific legislation/regulations that may have recently caused this CR to become unavailable.
Anyone else in Calif have this problem?

I’ve been using Credit Sesame and Credit Karma for a few years and i’ve kept screenshots of my scores since the beginning for progress comparisons. Since 2014, I’ve also been keeping track of every score offered by my various(~6) active credit cards. In 2013 and 2014, ALL of these scores including CK and CS were within 10 to 30 points of each other, until 2015, when Karma and Sesame dropped about 50 points lower than the credit card scores which have maintained a ~2 to 10 point difference.

…I’ve read the fine print and I know which cards use Experian, which cards use Transunion, and the cards that use Equifax. So, for there to be a recent significant drop on the part of Karma and Sesame(which are now practically identical scores), and not the banks, makes me question the marketing strategy of the CK and CS scores going forward.

Even the past 1 year score timeline on CS and CK doesnt reflect/agree with my past years screenshots.
So now I’m looking for the best 1-price for all 3 TRUE FICOs that I can find, to see who is as close to accurate as possible. That would be a GREAT article.

Is it really useful to have seven year old comments on this article? Surely, they are germane. I have also noticed this on other posts, after having been very confused by the out of date comments. I’d recommend either starting updates as an entirely new post, or simply deleting comments that predate any given significant update.

First off, I wish to say very useful information because I hate the idea of paying for stuff. However, when it comes to Equifax, I only see offers to view the score for free, but not a report. Therefore, I’d like to ask if there’s any website offering Equifax reports for free or for a very low charge? I’d appreciate it.

If I am already using Credit Karma, is there any value in using any of these other services? Also, what is the best way to occasionally look at my FICO score (not fako) without paying the FICO price tag?

Dan – each of the services should use a different Credit Bureau, so that will give you an idea of your score based on the information that particular credit bureau has on you. Also, you may get access to parts or all of your credit report from each service. As for an actual FICO score, many credit cards are now offering them – Discover card gives you your FICO-8 score every month. Check online for more credit cards to offer a real FICO score as the year rolls along.

Thanks anthony. ok, since creditkarma uses transunion and equifax, I decided to add credit.com to get the experian based “score” from them. All 3 of these scores use the Vantage score formula. I also had a recent Fico (Fico 98) for comparison. They are pretty close and will be helpful for me to track as I continue rebuilding after BK (2 year discharge date was last week). Here are scores for peoples reference: Fico = 684, Creditkarma.com: Transunion = 709, Equifax = 686 and Credit.com: Experian = 671

Goal/hope is to get above 720 in next year. I don’t have a credit score need for years when I may purchase another home in 5 years so by then I will have an exceptional score again. But will be nice to be in a solid credit/score position 3 years post BK.

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